From the Injury to the Return: Why Carissa Tigges Loves Athletic Training

Most people see Athletic Trainers when something goes wrong.

Carissa Tigges gets to see what happens next.

Tigges has worked in Grinnell College’s athletic training department since 2015 and now serves as head Athletic Trainer and deputy Title IX coordinator. Alongside Athletic Trainers Jason Kofoot, Mike Jones and Maycee Cline, she helps provide care for more than 500 varsity and competitive club student-athletes.

That can mean almost anything.

“We’re trained for everything from a life-threatening emergency on the court to a blister,” Tigges said. “We are the first to respond to them.”

It can also mean monitoring lightning and wet-bulb temperatures, covering practices and games, or spending months alongside an athlete recovering from surgery.

With four full-time Athletic Trainers and hundreds of athletes, the staff divides responsibilities across sports. Tigges currently works with volleyball, cross country, women’s tennis, men’s basketball and indoor and outdoor track and field.

The variety is something she appreciates.

“It keeps things fresh, it keeps me on my toes,” Tigges said. “I have to have a little bit broader skill set.”

But her favorite part comes from seeing an athlete's entire journey.

Tigges jokes that Athletic Trainers get “courtside seats to everything” including some of an athlete's hardest moments.

“The lowest of lows is when I’m standing next to them on the court because something just happened,” she said.

Then comes the work that most people in the stands never see: evaluations, treatments, rehabilitation and relationships that can stretch for months.

And eventually, sometimes, comes the moment Tigges has been waiting for.

“This is probably my favorite part of athletic training, we get to see that spectrum,” she said. “I get that full circle moment when I get to see them go back on the court.”

For Tigges, that's what makes the work worth it.